Even for the Dead
by The Final Conduit
Summary: Cole didn't want this life. He was just a regular guy trying to have a good time in college. He didn't want powers. He didn't want to go into a seeningly endless fight with zombies. He just wanted to go to Japan like his friend told him, but it just HAD to turn out badly...
1. Birth of the DEAD

A/N: I'll just start off by saying that all events in inFAMOUS are disregarded except for characters.

* * *

Cole MacGraph, a lean, lanky man who wore an open jacket with yellow sleeves and black overalls, with union jack jeans, never expected this.

He was only a care free college student who wa partaking in a traveling program.

He honestly didn't want to go to the destination of the trip - Japan - but his best friend and brother figure, Zeke J. Dunbar, a portly person with golden eyeglasses and a black biker's jacket who often greased his hair back (intentionally or unintentionally giving off a look similar to Elvis Presley), said that if it were all free, then he asked why he couldn't.

Don't get Cole wrong, he was curious as to what it was like in the foreign nation.

But despite himself, Cole was never really known as a person who enjoyed exploring unfamiliar places.

Sure, doing parkour tricks over the same places every day got old when he memorized the entire city by heart, but he always had a way of either getting his ass in trouble when he arrived, or end up severely lost, his "manly pride" never allowing him to ask for directions.

The 18 year old looked out his window and sighed, the clouds passing loosely through the air as he flew through the air.

After a while, Zeke had actually convinced him to come with the program in order to go to Japan.

He smiled bitterly as he thought of the things that Zeke said they could do when they actually got there. Explore, eat, flirt with girls...

Cole sighed.

He really didn't have any interest in any girls whatsoever at the moment, mainly due to the fact that he already had his eye on a certain lady at the moment.

The only problem was that she didn't really see him in the same light, despite them being friends.

He sighed again, trying to push any thoughts of Trish Dailey from his mind and locking them out.

He didn't want to spoil Zeke's mood after all.

He looked at his friend and smiled as he saw that he was asleep.

Cole looked back out the window, seeing that it was only the crack of dawn where he could see.

Sadly, he was an insomiac.

His eyelids were immensely heavy, and his body seemed to groan from exhaustion.

But Cole couldn't sleep.

He always had to at least go for a little run before he could sleep.

It was his way of breaking off steam.

But sitting next to the window, Cole could do little but look to the two people beside him and out the window.

He deeply hated this. It was like telling someone who needed space to move about to sit still in a tiny cubicle in a work place.

He always had been the hyper one in his family growing up.

As the golden coin slowly and dully rose from the horizon, Cole watched as it doused the world in a shade of Orange, steadily growing in color to become slightly blue, before he observed it change the sky blue once more in its presence.

Cole sighed for the third time, this time out of total boredom.

He seriously needed to move.

Now.

He'd go insane otherwise.

But as luck had it, it actually turned out the plane had finally arrived.

Several minutes later, Cole stood up and walked through to the escalator, stretching his arms wide, slightly cracking the stiff joints in his arms.

God, that felt good!

He and Zeke walked through with the crowd of people, Cole himself not really paying much attention to the instructor, his mind on his surroundings.

This was a nice place.

He wondered if it'd be fun to hone his free running skills here.

The group each took their bags, and Cole couldn't help feeling that his bag was a bit heavier than he remembered.

However, he shrugged this feeling off.

It was probably that heavy before he came here, and he just hadn't noticed.

Oh how wrong he was...

About an hour later, the group itself was waiting for a bus to take them sonewhere else, but one person was missing.

And Cole personally blamed Mother Nature for him missing the bus when it came and his class left without him, despite Zeke's likely attempts at trying to hold them up for him.

Cole groaned, seeing that the bus was gone.

It wasn't his fault that he had to use the bathroom right at that moment!

He reached in his duffel bag of a suitcase, looking around the clutter for his cell.

He felt his manly pride dying as he realized he would need to call Zeke to give him directions...

But instead of a phone, he realized that he was hearing a steady beeping sound as he felt something round and smooth come across his hand. He pushed his other hand inside to see what it was, and he pulled it out, seeing a spherical object beeping and glowing. His hands rubbed over it in his surprise.

"What the hell..." Cole wondered if this was one of Zeke's usual practical jokes, turning over sphere carefully.

He shook that thought off quickly, looking even more nervously at the sphere.

This was definitely NOT one of the pranks Zeke always pulled on him.

This was far beyond what Zeke would do for a joke, even for him.

He studied the ball in his hands delicately, greatly taken aback by the way his hands pressed the two sides together so easily.

What followed was...

Cole never expected this.

He could just hear it... all the screams... all the cries... all the deaths...

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Blue Ninja for noticing my mistakes. I guess I can't really rely on my kindle to write things out.**


	2. Rise of the DEAD

He was still, motionless, as limp as a rock.

The world around him lay in ruins, the sky still blue, yet the landscape like a hell risen to Earth.

Flames licked at the air, almost rising before dying down.

Buildings were only visible at the edge of the permanent scar on the Earth that was the crater, threatening dangerously to fall over and destroy all those who came too close if it fell.

Cole's eyes clenched, his breath hazy and sulfuric, his body screaming at him in pain for him to rest.

Cole groaned, turning over, clutching his side tightly, applying pressure to dull the throbbing pain that seem to be in quick succession with his heartbeat as he realized he had broken ribs.

He could barely hear anything. Anything at all.

He tried getting up, yet the nausia rushed to his head, gravity suddenly becoming much more powerful, driving him back on the ground.

He groaned loudly, clenching his teeth, clasping the side he fell on.

He needed to get help... if anyone could get him somewhere where he could recover...

Then something reached his ears, more clearly this time.

A low moan.

He forced his eyes open, seeing someone's feet by his head.

The person held no shoes, but based on his legs, Cole could tell it was a man.

He heard it moan again, and Cole forced himself to turn on his back when he felt that the man was leaning down.

As Cole lay on his back amd let his eyes adjust, he saw it was indeed a man.

But not any ordinary man.

It was a...

Cole's eyes widened, and in his surprise he forgot the pain that made him wish for merciful death. He stuck his hands over the man's face, it's mouth opening and closing with a small sound that resembled that of a person clicking their tongue, only instead with a less sharp note.

He struggled, pushing harshly against the man's head to keep him off, with much difficulty.

Then, without Cole noticing, his foot hit a broken electrical cord in the ground that somewhat rose above the edge of the crater center.

When it hit it - or to be more precise, brushed against it - a current of electricity flowed from Cole's legs, up to his body, where it arched and divided into both of his arms, then to his hands.

Cole didn't feel anything throughout the entire process, and he wouldn't have even noticed at all (courtesy of the man above him) if it weren't for the fact that the electricity exploded in his hands, his fingers coming to life with aqua blue electricity.

His hand coincidentally moved to the man's face to push him away as that happened.

Next second, giant tendrils of electricity connected like tubes from hospital wires for a patient who needed blood from both of their heads, ending in what seemed like a few minutes but lasted only half a moment.

The man became completely lifeless, and he fell with Cole's hand supporting him.

Cole pushed him away harshly, his breathing very heavy.

He got up quickly, only now noticing the fact that he was pretty messed up, despite him not feeling pain anymore.

He looked around, surprised at this realization.

He looked back at the lifeless corpse, seeing it burned and crisp.

Dead.

Cole stared at it in surprise.

Surely he had to be dreaming?

People never look like THAT!

Cole, or any person really, would be reacting this way under normal circumstances.

But as he gazed around at his surroundings, he saw clusters of injured people, all impossibly pale, walking as though they were mummies.

Everyone was a zombie.

* * *

Takashi Kumoro was alone.

He didn't care about the fact that he was late for his 5th period class.

He didn't care that he was perfect prey for people who just hungered for the opportunity to gloat about rumors they heard, true or untrue as they may be.

He didn't WANT to care about the fact that looking out into the playground in the distance reminded him of a time he and a childhood friend naively swore to marry each other in the future.

Oh, but he did.

That same girl, Rei, had dumped him before, but the thing that made it worse was the fact that she had dumped him for his best friend.

"Pinky swear..." he echoed, scowling lightly at the world around him, "Cross my heart and hope to die..." He scowled deeper, "What a load of bull..."

He looked over at the gates, where a man stood, rapping on it.

Probably some guy looking to sell something.

About three teachers walked out of to greet said person, but he seemed to disregard whatever they said.

Then, one teacher, a man who gave off a rough type of vibe, grabbed through the bars of the blac metal gate and slammed him into it, much to another teacher's distress.

Propped on a building several yards away from them, Cole, in a regular pair of jeans that he had looted from an destroyed store and a shirt that miraculously was only slightly ripped on the sleeve which he wore under his old jacket, watched from the edge of a rooftop, still shaken by the horrible monsters that he had shaken off yet surprised at the man's way of dealing with the intruder.

Surely Japan had laws about insult to injury?

However, as he looked closer, Cole saw a a gaping hole in the man's side, the flesh all but gone.

He realized in a split second what he was, yet before he could shout a warning-

"AAAAAH! GET OFF! GET OFF OF HIM!" Cole cringed at the woman's voice, and he saw the man recoil as the zombie held a piece of his bitten arm in his mouth.

He died, and Cole closed his eyes at the bloody sight.

Then he heard the woman's scream of relief, and Cole saw him getting back up.

He looked fine really, just bleeding from his arm.

The woman held a hand out to him, and he took it firmly.

Cole tried thinking about dealing with the zombie out front, not currently worried about the bitten person, yet before he could start to go for it, he saw the man fly up, mouth agape and clench his teeth sharply on her neck, ripping off skin.

Both Cole and Takashi witnessed this, and both of them said the same thing, or at least thought similar things.

Holy Shit!

Takashi stumbled backwards, not believing what he just saw.

How the hell did he come back to life?!

Cole clenched his teeth, turning and running, or more climbing, down the way he came to the top building: through parkour.

He landed harshly on the ground, running quickly again.

He held a metal bat in his hand, and as Cole ran, he sprinted right towards the zombie, his hand sparking with electricty again like before.

This time however, it didn't last as long.

But regardless, he got behind the dead man and stamped his foot on the ground, thrusting the bat from around his side to the side of its head, smashing with a crunch on his head, breaking it in, the inertia throwing him into the ground.

He looked up at the woman who wasn't much older than he was.

She had already been bitten.

He cursed under his breath.

No time to save her now.

He threw his bat over the fence, grabbed the side of the wall, hefting himself up onto it and over, landing lightly on the ground and running at the zombies, picking up the bat again and swinging it the same way he had the last one.

It smashed into the male zombie's head, and he fell to the ground, lifeless. He heard a moan behind him, and whipped around, barely in time to grab the female zombie's head before it could bite him.

"Rot in hell you bitch!" Cole sparked electricity again, the giant tendrils connecting to him like before, the once aqua blue electricity now slightly grayer than before.

He turned to the remaining teacher, the only one still alive and yelled, mentally thanking God that he took a language class in Japanese for fun, "Call the police! Alert everyone!"

He turned back to the gate, bat in hand, and looked on in shock as he saw a horde of zombies getting close to the gate.

Cole didn't like this.

This wasn't what he liked.

He only wanted to come to have fun with his best pal, but was that so much to ask?

Apparently so.

Cole scowled at the gate, a sudden flash going before his eyes.

**He stood before a crowd of people, and he did a pushing motion while sparking electricity in his hand for a split second.**

**A small wave of air and electricity blew most of them away, most dead again.**

The flash ended, and Cole had a sudden wave of pain go to his head.

He cursed while holding his head, then ignored it and settled on the people before him, moaning like mummies and walking like drunkards.

He didn't know how much it'd hurt to try, and Cole did what he saw in the vision, resulting in a wave that blew most of the zombies close away, throwing them into the comrades...

... and breaking down the fence cutting them off from the school in the process.

Cole stared, not believing his own stupidity.

Why the FUCK hadn't he thought about that?!

His brooding had to wait, however, when some of the zombies started running at him.

Cole braced himself for fighting in that moment, mentally praying genuinely for once in a very long time.

* * *

A few minutes later, Takashi was sprinting was two people in tow, one carrying a broken wooden sweeper staff, and the other carrying nothing but himself as they ran.

The man Cole encountered hadn't gotten the police, so he ran for the principal instead.

However, this action ended in a large crowd of people panicking when it turned out a zombie walked into the office.

No one was alive in there now.

Takashi himself had actually warned Rei and his friend, Hisashi, about the things that happened in the front gate.

Rei was very skeptic at first, but Hisashi, being his best friend, believed him, though he did somewhat lose faith in Takashi at first.

Now, they were running, passing countless zombies that had found their way up to the roof.

They just ran, ignoring everything around them, and tried to find a safe place.

However, as Takashi helped get Rei up a staircase with Hisashi, he looked down upon all the things happening.

Smoke had began filling the air from fires.

Helis flew right past them all, the pilots ignoring the scenes underneath them.

And to top it off, the dead were reviving and killing others so they could become like them.

Seeing this, Takashi Kumuro roared above all of the madness, one sentence.

"What the FUCK'S going on?!"

* * *

**Chapter 2 End...**

**To people who played inFAMOUS, I'll just say that Cole's powers will be altered in some ways. **


	3. Escape from the DEAD

Heavy breathing filled the room, moans mixing with it, the sound of the metal bat swinging and the occasional sound of electric tendrils sucking out an already dead person's life or the low roar of the wave of monochromatic energy.

Bullets of sweat poured down Cole's exhausted face, the adrenaline making it so that he really couldn't keep still without difficulty, the clothes he wore, and partially his face, covered with blood, as though he had been inside a barbaric one man massacre... which he technically was in.

Cole was surrounded by the zombies, both on the ground and unmoving, and ones up and walking to Cole, their comrades' blood leaving a giant stain on the floor and walls.

Cole let his arms sag to the ground, a *pong* like sound echoing as it hit the ground.

He breathed and gulped down several breaths of air, his body groaning at him to rest.

He seriously was starting to get tired of all the damn zombies coming out of nowhere, none of them seeming to have an end.

"Where... the hell... are these guys... coming from...?" Cole said between heavy breaths.

He knew that he was inside a big school but this was to freaking much.

How many people had he killed at this point?!

He took one last sharp breath, forcing himself to stand up straight.

He needed to get out of there.

He looked to his surroundings, looking for a way out.

His eyes settled for the stairs, and he sparked electricity in his palm, pushing harshly through the air, blowing all the zombies in the way of his target away and scattering them like pins inside of a game of bowling.

He bounded for the stairs quickly, taking several at a time, doing everything he could to get down to the first floor.

By this time the sun was being consumed by the horizon.

Cole would say someone was going to have to be checked for insanity if they told him that he'd be fighting zombies for hours on end while he was on the plane. He would believe that person now though.

It was an entire bloodbath where he was few minutes ago, and the amount of zombies in there had drastically made him add to the body count.

He skidded loudly on the tile floor, running as fast as he could to find the exit.

He passed a door on the way, and Cole skidded to a stop, running back to the door and bursting through the double doors, running as though hell was on his heels.

Several of the walking corpses turned to him as he ran, and he occasionally had to swing his bat harshly to kill them before they killed him.

It was do or die.

He let his head whip from side to side, trying to find where he could get a way of getting the hell out of there.

Then, to his relieving surprise, he saw a group of people running towards a large bus.

He smiled in relief, realizing that he wasn't the only guy fighting for his freaking life.

He sprinted to them, this time running faster now that he knew where he was going, whereas a moment ago he was running aimlessly.

He had to break a few heads before he could get to them, and each time, a hollow clang filling the air was added to the immense chaos that surrounded him.

Then suddenly, he saw that there was a person who had fallen after tripping, and apparently couldn't get back up as he was running with the group. A girl had turned back to get him, when suddenly a girl wearing sunglasses grabbed her.

Cole couldn't make out what they were saying to each other, but he saw that she shook her head and ran back to get to him, probably to help him back up.

Cole, despite being surrounded by zombies again, saw this, eyes widened.

He scowled, at a moment of indecision, glancing between the bus where they were running and the helpless duo who were most likely going to die unless by some miracle they could get back with the group.

But the chances of them actually getting there, with the guy being unable to get up and all...

He scowled deeper, clenching his teeth, mentally screaming in rage.

Damn it all!

He sparked electricity, pushing his palm through the air as the electricity suddenly formed a small circle in the base of his palm.

As he pushed his hand through the air, the circle seemed to launch itself into the air, throwing a semi wall of zombies flying through the air. He burst through the opening in the growing wall of zombies surrounding him, as though he had something that attracted them to him.

He sprinted towards the pair, his breath extremely heavy, his bat slashing through the air like a sword as it spun around at the angle that he ordered it to, striking the zombies without thought, it's controller's sights solely on the pair, watching their progress in moving.

To Cole's surprise, he didn't see the girl try to help the boy up, he saw her...

Cole scowled, his irritation flaring up almost instantly.

What kind of idiot hugged someone when they were about to die?!

He bounded towards them now, seeing one zombie coming close to them... too close to them...

Finally, Cole reached them, and time seemed to slow down for a moment, the only thing he could hear being his heartbeat.

He stamped his foot into the ground again, gripping his bat's handle tightly.

_***Bu-Bump***_

He began swinging, his ultimate target for the area he wanted his bat to hit made.

_***Ba-Bump***_

It crashed into the zombie's head, breaking it's skull and throwing him through the air.

He sparked electricity into his palm, pushing it through the air, the circle forming again and blowing through the air, expanding gradually, throwing the zombies from in front of him crashing into a wall.

"Hey!" Cole yelled at the girl, seeing her look up, "Help him up and get him to the bus! I'll cover you until you get there!"

She nodded feverishly, reaching out to grasp the boy's hand, pulling him back slowly onto his feet.

He lost his balance quickly, almost falling to the side as soon as he stood straight, Cole barely catching him in time, right before he was going to use another blast.

However, in that one split second, the electricity in his hand quickly flowed from Cole to the boy, and when he noticed, he became subject to the fear of the thought that he had killed him.

But then the electricity went down his body, down his side, down his leg, to his ankle, trailing down like a stream of bluish gray water, and before any of them could do anything, the boy stood up straight, no pain evident on his face, all traces of even the slightest hurt gone from his features, replaced with surprise.

"I'm not hurting anymore..." He said incredulously.

Cole would've marvelled what had happened as well, but then he was broken from his train of thought by a low moan.

He barely backed himself away in time to avoid a zombie biting its suddenly overly large mouth into his neck.

He swung at it, bashing in its head.

He whipped to the duo, yelling again, "Then run then! RUN!" Cole blasted a path for them that generally led to the bus, trying to push back any zombies grabbing at him.

They ran, and Cole tried using another blast again, but not failing to notice that it looked different.

Why was the ring that formed smaller than before-

Cole's vision turned a few shades darker, and his body seemed to move a little slower than before.

He tried the blast again, but nothing came out this time.

His eyes widened, and he turned to a zombie close by, wondering if his newfound powers had suddenly stopped working.

He pressed his hand against its forehead quickly, trying to spark electricity again, half ready to run for his life if need be.

However, the all too familiar tendrils connected their heads again, and Cole couldn't help but sigh in relief, the zombie falling down to the ground, his body regaining its original composure almost instantly.

He clenched his hand tightly into a fist, wondering whether he needed to do that so he could feel better.

However, he put those thoughts on hold, turning back to the duo, who were getting closer to the bus, making him mentally thank God.

He ran after them, taking out some of the zombies in his way, not stopping until he noticed that he himself was pretty close to the bus, the duo he so wanted to protect already on.

He came to the steps, bounding up them hurriedly after blasting a few zombies away again.

He sighed in relief again as he saw that he was with a group of people now.

Now, he probably wasn't going to bust in heads alone.

He looked up, seeing a man a few years older than him with a jet black suit and hair, wearing a pair of glasses, leading a group of students towards the bus. Cole saw this, and came back off the bus to provide necessary cover for the completely unarmed students, but really only running out, as most of the zombies were farther out.

Though, he quickly realized his efforts weren't needed as many of the zombies were more loosely packed now that he looked over them all.

He was about to relax and go back on the bus when he saw another student fall. He looked up at the teacher, seeming to ask for help.

Cole considered going to help, but stopped when he saw something that shocked him.

The teacher simply looked down at him, pity showing in his expression.

But that wasn't what surprised Cole.

It was how the man pulled his foot back, swinging it and literally bashing in his nose!

Cole was so surprised that he stood motionless for a moment, not believing what his eyes were currently seeing.

The man walked away after a moment, a genuinely twisted smile plastered on his face, running after a moment, right past Cole and his expression clearly saying, 'What the fuck is wrong with this guy?'

Cole was about to try to get to the second fallen man, but he stopped when he saw that it was too late, as the zombies surrounded him, drawn to his pained screams.

Cole cursed under his breath, turning sharply on his heel and running back on the bus after the man, glaring cold, icy daggers at the back of his head.

The person at the driver's seat started it just as Cole got back on, the doors shutting behind him, the low roar of the bus' engine coming to life like a lion's.

She floored the gas, driving through the endless hordes of zombies, blatantly muttering to herself, something about how the zombies weren't real people anymore.

She drove past the gate that Cole himself had broken down a few hours ago, and he sank into a seat, his body tired as a cheetah's was after it ran for much too long at its top speed, but his mind on high alert.

And so Cole let his body rest for a while, the road seeming to make the high school he had just escaped from smaller and smaller, the lives taken and abandoned for themselves streaking through his mind.

Looking around the currently silent room, Cole sighed, speaking to break it.

"Hey..." He finally noticed that his voice was much gruffer than it was before, "My name's Cole MacGraph..."

* * *

**A/N: And so, Cole MacGraph finally meets the H.O.T.D gang... next chapter at least.**


	4. Evil amongst the living and not the DEAD

It had all gone to hell.

The zombies were rampant as far as the eye could possibly see.

Smoke came in columns, its ebony appearance - like the mummy like monsters mauling and killing/eating all things alive - sucking out the once pure and stable life out of the air.

Screams filled the now polluted air, gradually decreasing in number.

Soon, all that was left was one simple sound.

The sound of the dead, the moans they made polluting the once beautiful and quiet environment, changing that tuneless melody into the hiss of the spawn of Satan as they rise from hell, the world changing from a normal area to the very portal to which the very world's apocalypse could enter through.

And amongst it all, stood a tall and lanky man, his feet perching him on the top of building.

He wore a long, perfectly white trench coat, multiple scarves covering his neck, despite the fact that it was very humid that day.

His torso and abdomen weren't covered at all however, and it was very easy to see that his body wasn't the most common one in the world.

Where his right hand should've been, there was a robotic claw, and over his chest, there were many cybernetic parts added to him.

If one were to see him, many would have little difficulty actually thinking he was an actor for some sci-fi movie.

He wore a grey hood, which covered his completely bald head, the wrinkles on his face looking as though someone had been pulling on the sides of his face in a well done attempt to make him look old.

Which he was.

He surveyed the rapidly spreading chaos under him.

The middle-aged man lifted his clawed hand to his mouth, his voice deep as he spoke, "Phase 1: 92% complete."

As he looked down the chaos once more, he gave a blank gaze, not a single one of the deaths even fazing him.

He was simply watching his plan go well.

Without even considering any of the possible survivors, he turned on his heel, walking across the building.

Within seconds, he disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Outside things had gone to hell.

Everyone could tell that very easily.

The silence that was fell upon everyone was heavier than the bus that they were riding in.

"I can't believe we actually got out of there..." One guy, tall and lanky, with brown hair and eyes, said.

"Thank God we did," the guy with those eyes - who didn't seem to notice Cole's side glare - said, stepping next to a girl with black hair who was somewhat younger than Cole.

Of course everyone in there but the man was younger than Cole.

They were all high school students, whereas he was already in college.

"I am assuming YOU are the leader of this group?" He took a step next to her, looking down on the girl, who was wiping her weapon - a wooden sword - clean of blood.

This wasn't surprising.

Everyone who had a bloodied weapon was wiping it clean, including Cole.

One might think that this would be a useless to do this, as there were, of course, many more zombies, but the smell of blood was getting to everyone.

Wiping the weapons helped somewhat, as small as of an actual help it was.

"No, that's not it," she responded calmly, barely glancing up at him as she shined her wooden sword clean, "We just work together to survive."

"Oh, that isn't good," his eyes narrowed, almost impossibly making his face resemble a snake's, "We need a leader in order to survive. A leader that can bear the responsibility for everything," his voice became a tad more dramatic, "With bravery, with poise."

Cole snorted, "You saying that you could be an effective leader? Yeah, right."

The man was surprised at his tone, but regained his composure, "And you would be?"

Cole wasn't going to answer at first, but he could feel all the gazes turn to him.

He sighed, leaning forward in his seat, pressing his elbows into his knees, intertwining his fingers.

"My name's Cole MacGrath."

"Well, Cole MacGrath," the man pushed his glasses back up the rim of his nose, a smile on his face, "I am Mr. Shido. A teacher who works at the school of these fine students."

"You? You're a teacher?"

"Yes. Do you have difficulty believing that?" For a split second, Cole saw him flash him a dangerous smile, before returning to the gentle one he adopted.

A warning.

"I have some difficulty believing that." Cole put his hands behind his head, "After all, you're the one who bashed a student's face in when he asked for help."

There was a stunned silence as those words sunk into everyone's ears.

"I tried to save him, but he was already dying. He had been bitten." Shido did well to mask the hurriedness in his tone, glaring darkly at the other man before him.

"Not the way it looked to me." Cole looked back at the glare without flinching, giving one of his own.

The two had become the center of attention in the room, everyone looking between them, as though they were watching the championship game for Tennis.

"Well, I see you've made your point very clear," he pushed his glasses up again, "I see you want to be leader."

Cole blinked, "...huh?"

"You must wish to be leader if you are going as far as making false accusations to keep me from becoming leader."

"What? Hell no!" Cole yelled, but then he realized that Shido had laid a trap for him.

And he had taken the bait.

"I just wanted there to be a leader that doesn't care only about what their self," he added quickly.

But he was already too late.

Shido had done to him what many lawyers did to people in court: make a person seem too easily angered or make them seem unreliable to trust.

He recognized the trick, as his lawyers quite often did the same thing again and again in his court cases.

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

This time it apparently had worked.

Believe it or not they often questioned you in court, for things that were relevant and completely irrelevant.

Amy, Trish's sister, had actually sued a person for throwing a box of buffalo wings at her.

The questions the defense attorneys asked were as followed:

"Do you know when he hit you?"

"Did you make contact with him before the incident?"

"What kind of wings were they?"

"How many were inside the box?"

Cole could swear to God that he wasn't bullshitting when he said that they actually asked about how many wings were in the box.

The main point of this was, once again, to make the other person seem illogical or wrong.

So even though Cole saw his trick, it really didn't matter that Shido let the matter drop then, acting as though he had just walked out of a good discussion.

Cole wanted to protest this, but he knew trying that would make it worse for him.

So he laid himself back for the moment, silently cursing the man sitting a few rows before him.

He could already tell Shido would be a pain in the ass, if he were to put it lightly.

Thinking back, he couldn't help feeling that he needed to find Zeke, as unlikely as the event of finding him alive may have been.

He'd have to find him first.

He didn't call Zeke "brother" because he liked the way it sounded after all.

He would've tried to call Zane on his cell, but two things kept him from doing this.

1. Zeke could've been fending off zombies at any given moment, and Cole recently figured out they were more prone to attack and kill you if you made too loud of a sound.

2. His phone was fried and destroyed.

So naturally, there wasn't really much choice in the matter considering those things.

He still had to hope though -

He was broken from his thoughts when the bus ran something over, and Cole looked back to see that it was another of those undead corpses.

He watched, tuning back into the conversation that was happening.

"Why do we have to go with Kumoro and the others?" One guy yelled, "If you ask me we were better off where we were!"

Cole narrowed his eyes, "You mean when you were running for your damn lives because you were surrounded by those things? Yeah, real safe." He said sarcastically.

"He has a point you know!" Another guy yelled at him, "We should have barricaded ourselves on the -"

Where they should've barricaded themselves, no one knew.

The bus suddenly screeched to a stop.

Cole looked at the driver, seeing that it was a woman with blonde hair and...

He blushed at the sight of her breasts as they bounced almost impossibly.

It May be considered messed up to stare at a woman's cleavage.

But from the way Cole saw it, they were just so hard NOT to stare at!

"Look everyone, that's enough! I can't drive if you're allall yelling like this!"collected

The black haired girl spoke up next, arms crossed, "It doesn't matter now that you're out of there. What do you plan on doing now?"

The guy who had been yelling clenched his teeth, "I just can't stand this guy!" He pointed to the guy from before, who held a bat in his hand and had brown hair and eyes.

"What's your problem with me?" He got up, staring him in the eye, "What the hell did I ever do to you, I don't even know you."

He got angry at that statement, "You know damn well-"

A whipping sound filled the bus, and an object rammed into the guy's gut.

He coughed up spit, a girl holding a broken makeshift shaft from what Cole assumed was a broom.

He saw Shido getting up and walking over to them, and Cole mentally scowled.

Shido simply applauded them, "Excellent teamwork. But this just proves my point. If we're going to operate well, we'll need a leader."

"So you're going to try to be the leader?" A girl who had somewhat of a spoiled type of voice spoke, her hair pink and her eyes yellow, that had her arms crossed.

"I am much more mature than all of you Ms. Takagi, whereas most of you are barely in your teens. Unless you want to lead of course." Shido smiled while leaning on the girl's seat.

She scoffed in response. "As if."

"And you see, this is why I am most fit to be a leader of this group." He turned to the people in the back of the bus.

Cole scowled on the outside now.

Here came the crap...

"And I promise to protect you as leader. After all, I've saved the lives of these brave students!" Cole could tell he was sucking up to the people.

And it somehow worked.

Many people in the bus began standing, as though saying that they wanted him as leader without a doubt.

Only the first few people to get to the bus and Cole didn't do anything, only stared.

But in the end, Shido had the majority.

"The decision is clear.

Then the girl with the broken broom seemingly had enough.

She opened the door with unnecessary force, jumping out and walking away.

The guy with the bat ran out after her, "Rei! What are you doing?" He yelled after her.

"There's no way," the girl, now known to Cole as Rei, looked back at him with fury in her eyes, "There's no way in hell I'm staying in there with him Takashi!"

"Get back on the bus..."

Cole couldn't help understanding somewhat.

He'd probably do the same thing.

"Well, if she doesn't want to be one of us, we can't force her."

Cole, along with many others, looked at Shido.

"What? What 'us'? What are you talking about?" He looked back at Rei, then ran off the bus, taking her hand as she walked away.

They started bickering to each other within seconds, but Cole couldn't exactly hear it.

He was focused on Shido.

He rose from his seat, walking to him, "You know, I've barely known you an hour and I'm already convinced you're a total asshole."

"Oh, Cole, why use such foul words to your new leader?"

"You don't lead me. I don't give a shit what these guys want. I don't give a shit if you were the dictator of this world. I'd still say it to your face." He got up close, his eyes seeming to glow blue in that moment.

They gave each other that look again for a moment, until screeching filled everyone's ears.

The black haired girl took one look outside and looked back at the driver, "You seriously need to floor it!"

The driver snapped out of a trance like state, looking over at Cole and Shido.

It wasn't anyone's doubt that she was getting as interested as anyone else in the things that were happening.

But as she moved, Takashi and Rei both...

Cole ran out of the bus, rolling out and standing up quickly and seeing a bus filled to the brink with zombies.

It was speeding for them, and he'd have to use something strong - and quick.

He concentrated the electricity in his palm, feeling the circle take longer to form this time.

He concentrated all the same, focusing it all in one hand, then thrusting his hand through the air.

Something he didn't expect happened then.

A circle of electricity, Gray and monochromatic as someone's unbelievably pale face.

It forced itself out, spreading to meet the area of a large circle, then somehow pulsating into a square right before the bus hit it.

When the two forces collided, it threw the bus very much to its right.

As a result, it slammed into a pole that was lodged into the ground, making the back lift high into the air, doing an upside down spin on the street.

Takashi, Rei, and Cole knew what would happen if they stayed like this...

"Get back! Go!" Cole ran after them as they all sprinted away from the bus, running into the tunnel.

It fell, crashing down destructively and killing everyone inside.

At least the ones that were still alive.

The zombies rose from the flames, on both sides, their bodies alit.

Cole didn't believe his eyes, but still gripped his bat.

They could live even when they were on fire?! Just what the hell could these bastards do to defy nature so incredibly?!

However, they all dropped to the ground after several moments, and Cole slowly relaxed.

Now for the other problem.

He looked for an exit but found that the tunnel entrance was blocked.

Only the exit was left.

Takashi must've noticed too, because he yelled to the black haired girl who came off the bus to check on them, "The East Police Station. Meet up at the East police station at 7:30!"

"What if we don't get there in time?"

"Then we'll meet up the day after that."

That was all he could say before the wall of flame closed in on them.

"...yeah, we should go." He said hurriedly, grabbing Rei's hand with Cole running in tow.

They were just sprinting out of the tunnel when the explosion happened.

They looked at fiery inferno, trying to catch their much lost breath.

Cole was first to recover, "Sorry about that."

"It's okay man, you were just trying to help." Takashi waved it off between breaths.

"...I'll go try to see where we are. Give me a sec." Cole ran at the wall of the tunnel, not thinking twice about climbing up the wall with ease.

When he eventually reached the top, he overlooked everything for miles.

"What do you see up there?" Takashi yelled up at him.

Cole didn't answer for a while. "Hell." He yelled down simply, taking a step back, as though the scene before him made him sick to his stomach.

Maybe one too many steps back.

He accidentally fell off the side of the building, flailing his arms uselessly as he went.

The two looked as shocked as Cole was surprised, and he could tell that they wanted to help, but he also noticed one guy wearing a biker helmet.

Only...

"Guys, look out!" Cole yelled as best as he could.

Just as Takashi turned, the zombie lunged, latching onto him, its hands clutching him as though manic,

Rei couldn't help feeling fear in that moment, seeing Takashi wrestle with a zombie and Cole falling through the air, going to land with a fall to his death.

She acted quickly, looking around and seeing a cinderblock lying on the ground. She ran, taking it into her hands and lifting it up, then sprinting back, the extra weight throwing her balance off slightly.

She stopped behind the zombie, throwing the block over her head.

She had already lost her boyfriend, she couldn't let Takashi die!

With that thought, she thrust it down, the zombie's head becoming indented despite the helmet it used for protection while alive.

It stopped moving almost instantly, and Takashi didn't seem to register the reason why for a moment.

Then he threw it off of him, breath lost.

"Thanks Rei... You just saved my ass..."

A loud thud ended that moment of relief, replacing it with momentary horror.

No sounds filled their ears after that, and slowly, they looked back to the source of the thud.

Cole's motionless body, which had a small cut on his head, leaving blood on the pavement.

"Cole!" They ran at the man quickly, hurriedly going to his side.

"Jesus... Cole, stay with us!" Takashi yelled, he and Rei trying to help him up.

"How much blood is he losing..." Rei looked on with horror, knowing no one could possibly survive a fall like that without fatal injury in even the best case scenario, feeling that it was a miracle that Cole didn't have any broken parts on the head.

"Damn it... Cole stay with us!" Takashi yelled, closing his eyes, and looking down.

"I'm still here."

Both teenagers looked at Cole, who opened his blue eyes.

"Cole... you're alive..." He said incredulously.

"I know. I can't believe it myself." Cole closed his eyes again.

"Are... are you in pain?" Rei asked, surprise still evident on her expression.

Cole looked at her strangely, "I just fell farther than any human is actually possible to do without dying, my head is bleeding, and you're asking if I'm in pain?"

She looked deflated by that, "Oh... s-sorry..."

Cole groaned in pain, pressing a hand against his head, "Damn it..."

"We should probably get that wound covered." Takashi spoke seriously.

"Where will we get anything like that?"

He responded by ripping off part of his own shirt, then using it as a cover for his head.

"That should do it. C'mon, we should get going." He and Rei helped the electrokinetic onto his feet, lightly carrying him away.

"We won't be walking all the way there, will we?"

"Yes-" Takashi stopped, "Wait... that guy had a biker's helmet on..."

They carried him to the hill, and they could see a motorcycle on the ground, next to a truck that had a dead driver commandeering it while the paint was scraped off by the side guards that had stopped it.

"Yeah... that could work."

They carried Cole to the truck, pulling the deceased person out after making sure it wasn't a zombie.

They laid him in the middle of the truck, and Takashi wheeled the motorcycle onto the back of it.

"Do you even have a license?" Rei asked as she watched Takashi start the engine from the inside, the keys already in the ignition.

"You think getting a ticket is the thing we should be worrying about?" He smiled at her, "C'mon, get in!"

She returned the smile, and soon they were inside of the truck, everything seemingly starting to work out well for them (though she could've done without Cole's snoring as he slept, having his wound and resting about two hours into fighting to stay awake. "I might die if I fall asleep before then," he said.)

If only they knew that the world was as alive as the corpses that tried to bite them were...

* * *

The man with a trench coat watched from a high pole, seeing them get into the truck and leaving.

As they went, he teleported several meters behind them, lifting his wrist to his mouth, "Phase 1: 100% Completion."

He looked at the truck until it disappeared from his eyeshot, then lowered his robotic hand.

"Powers are coming along nicely. Looking good Cole."

He gave a mirthless smile before disappearing into thin air.


	5. Reawakening DEAD

He was almost completely passed out, head laying against the glass of the truck, it rumbling lightly to it's engine.

Takashi looked over Cole, seeing that his bleeding had stopped.

He sighed, "Thank God he'll be alright."

Rei gave no answer, just looked out the window from her side of the vehicle.

He got up from his kneed position, going to the front of the car and seeing the same things she saw.

The entire world had suddenly become a ghost town, savor the corpses that walked like drunken soldiers of an army trying to march in the state they were in.

Not a single person - that is to say, a living person - was anywhere, except for multiple unmoving corpses that were of people killed in fires, explosions, or any other type of accident.

So long as you excluded what happened to corpses when "they" bit people.

"It hasn't even been a whole day and all of this happens..." She didn't blink as she looked over it all, "Do you think anyone's going to help us?" She looked at Takashi through the glass, who leaned against the side of the car as he felt the vibration of it.

"No. I really doubt it."

She was taken aback by his response, "W-What makes you so sure?"

He gave her a look, "It's just like before on the rooftop when those helicopters just flew by us. They can barely help themselves. They need help as much as we do. And from what I see, that won't be changing very soon, if ever." He spoke in a matter of fact tone.

She looked down slightly, "What do you say we do then?"

"We do what we can to survive. That's all." He said calmly.

She scowled in response, "God, you're so predictable..."

He scowled back, "At least I'm not lying!"

"You don't have to be so grim about it though!" She roared angrily.

Maybe a bit too angrily.

Takashi cringed, not because he wa surprised or scared of her tone, but because of something he noticed.

He stared past her head, and soon, Rei did the same, only to see a crowd of zombies walking towards them.

Takashi recovered himself, "We need to get going." He got into the truck and Rei automatically got back in the middle, both saying nothing as Takashi drove onwards quickly.

She glanced at him however, sighing mentally.

Why was Takashi the way he was...

As they drove on, the entire city only started becoming more and more of a literal mix between a ghost town and the immediate aftermath of an area after a blood bath of a battle.

It was hard to believe this only started about 11 hours ago...

Cole actually began to wake up after a few minutes.

He opened his eyes, slowly realizing that he was on the inside of a truck.

At first he thought he was on another road trip with Zeke, but then he saw the two people inside the car.

He narrowed his eyes lightly, then remembering the entire day before.

"Hey guys," he rubbed his eye, "Did anything happen while I was out?"

"Good to see your alright man." Takashi smiled at him, before looking back at the road, the smile dropping after a moment, "You didn't miss much though."

"They've gotten worse?"

"Hell yes."

Cole looked out his side of the truck, "At least we aren't getting attacked for the moment."

"...Yeah."

He didn't fail to notice that Rei was rather silent for most of the drive, but he didn't comment about it.

Whatever was on her mind probably wasn't the best thing to talk about.

He looked everywhere they passed, at times seeing places sick with Gore.

But the creepiest thing he saw, at least to him, were the cats they passed.

Whether cats really liked to drink milk or not, Cole never really knew (nor genuinely cared) for the answer.

But when they passed a recently shed pool of blood, there was a purse and two cats standing over it.

The thing Cole found so creepy was the fact that one cat was actually tried to drink the blood!

"Dear God, what's this world coming to..."

"Armageddon." Rei said in a monotone, arms crossed.

She looked up slightly, then blinked. She obviously leaned forward to see what she was looking at more clearly... "Look over there!" She yelled, pointing.

Cole jumped from the sudden yell.

He wasn't the only one surprised; Takashi slammed on the brakes, making the tires squeal as it stopped forcefully.

They had to look for a moment before they realized that there was a cop car in front of them.

Takashi smiled as the initial surprise at Rei's outburst wore off.

"Stolen truck, motorcycle, and no licence... I'm just asking to get a ticket aren't I?"

"Really?" Cole snorted, "You're scared of the cops even after you went through that many zombies and almost staring death in the face several times?"

He shrugged, "You've got a point." He drove next to the police car.

Only to see an unwelcome sight.

"...you've GOT to be kidding me..." He said in an exasperated tone.

The back of the police car was destroyed by a big garbage truck, and the two people in the front of the car both were dead.

Rei walked up to the car after getting out of the truck, seeing this for her own eyes.

Then she started going to the side of it, much to the two guys disapproval, "Two, don't!" Cole yelled, waving his hands for emphasis.

She only looked back at him, "Why?"

"There's gas leaking from the car, it's too dangerous!" Takashi spoke, almost taking all of the words from his mouth.&

She scoffed, "Geez, man up, the both of you. There could be something we could use in there!" She walked off again, leaving both guys feeling somewhat put down.

They glanced at each other, and they could both see that they felt the same thing the other felt.

A look of equal sympathy went through them both simultaneously.

Takashi sighed, getting out and following behind Rei as she pulled things off of the corps&es within the police car.

They laid out all the things that the two cops had on them that they deemed useful on the back of the truck.

Two flashlights, hand cuffs, and hand guns.

"Do you guys know how to use it?" She looked up at them as they stood in a triangle around the stuff, gesturing to the guns.

"I've watched enough TV." Takashi scratched the back of his head.

Cole peered closely at the weapon, then picked it up, pulling the gun into its position.

Takashi continued despite this, "But you shouldn't aim unless you plan to shoot... But with those powers of yours I bet you won't need a gun, huh Cole?"

As though nature wanted to emphasize what Takashi meant to be a light statement, Cole's electricity sparked without his control, hitting the metal and gun powder in the gun.

The conductivity triggered a very minute explosion, and the gun fell to pieces, leaving Cole's hand charred but otherwise fine.

There was a long silence between the three of them.

Cole didn't do anything at first, then held up his hands, taking a few steps back.

"Okay... I'm not touching a gun again."

"Better safe then sorry." Takashi said almost instantly.

"Please hesitate to use the other one." Rei said.

They gathered their things quickly, as they felt the explosion could attract "them".

Cole however decided to sit in the back of the truck, just to be able to drive most back if "they" attacked. Rei gathered the bullets of the other gun, saying it could be used for the remaining gun.

Cole didn't object; he'd just destroyed something that could be of use to them without his own consent.

All three however couldn't help wondering what the hell had caused his powers to go off like that.

Soon, they had to stop for gas however.

No zombies were near, if "near" counted as anywhere within eyesight.

"Do you think we'll be able to get gas?" Rei carried the weapons - her makeshift staff and Cole and Takashi's bats - as she asked this.

"Gas stations usually have a tank that can fill around 1,000 cars, so it should be fine." Takashi walked to the gas pumps, before stopping stiff.

"Takashi?"

"Damn it. It's a self service gas station. We have to put money in for it to work."

"So... put in money." Cole hopped out of the truck.

Takashi scowled, "With the money I've got, all we'll get is fumes."

Rei scowled, "You're the worst..."

He turned to her, yelling, "I'm sorry alright! I guess Hisashi would've had the cash!"

Cole jumped at the sound of his yelling, while Rei let her eyes turn wide.

"What? What does this have anything to do with him?"

"You said I'm the worst right? So SOMEONE must be the best!"

Cole had a feeling he was missing something...

"...I didn't mean it then... But I do now." She flinched when she saw him start to physically respond, closing her eyes, sure he was about to hit her.

But the hit never came.

She opened her eyes, seeing Takashi holding out his hand, "Let me borrow some money."

"Uh..."

"C'mon Rei, we need to get going."

She looked rather sheepish, "...actually... I kind of left my wallet on the bus..."

He gave her an incredulous look, then face palmed, "Jesus, and your getting on my ass about this?"

"Maybe you both should use your indoor voices." Cole hissed.

They froze, listening intently for anything a zombie might be doing.

No sound came.

Takashi sighed in relief, "Cole, you got any money on you?"

His look said it all.

He sighed again, "Fine. I'll just go in the store to get money." He walked away into the store.

"I'll go try keeping watch for "them". Scream if something happens." Cole walked away after taking his metal bat.

Rei sighed, leaning against a pillar, just then realizing how tired she was. The feeling was set in her bones.

Given time alone, she collected her thoughts of the past day.

And especially her conduct on how she treated Takashi and Cole.

She sighed, "C'mon Rei, try not to give them a hard time..."

She jumped at the sound of a loud crash. She turned, realizing that Takashi was breaking something apart in there with his own bat.

She stared, looking away and sighing.

On second thought...

She never noticed the person hiding, wielding a knife, and breathing very slowly.

He made sure no one was around, then ran at her, grabbing her from behind.

She screamed loudly, and next second, a guy came running out of the store, holding a bat, "Rei!" He yelled, only to stop when he saw him holding her.

"Hey man, you've got a nice piece of ass here!" The man had dark brown skin, a black shirt, and yellowish shorts. Around his neck were several chains, one of which had a marijuana sign on it. And in his hand was a knife that pointed dangerously close to Rei's neck.

"Let her go!" He yelled.

"Why should I? You think I'd go for one of those half ass zombies?" He held her even tighter to him, smiling perversely.

Takashi clenched his teeth, but tried talking to him when he noticed the knife; trying to stall for time so he could think, "Are you insane? Is that it?"

"Of course I am..." He had a dark look over his face, "My entire family turned to "them"... I had to smash everyone's head in... my mom, my dad, my grandmother, my brother... hell... even my little sister... Wouldn't anyone else gets fucked up in the head after that?!" He cackled loudly.

Much too loudly...

Rei elbowed him harshly in the stomach, then broke free of his grip when she felt him lose his grip, "Takashi - !"

He grabbed her from behind again after quickly recovering, then gripped her breast through her clothes.

She screamed, struggling against him.

"I like how you scream... the way you feel... seems like there's a handful here..."

"T-Takashi!" She screamed, tears starting to come out of her eyes.

Takashi clenched his bat even tighter, "Get the FUCK off of her!" He ran, leaving behind almost all of his sense of rhyme and reason.

Almost.

"Hey, back the fuck off or I'll kill this slut!" He pushed the blade against her neck for emphasis.

Takashi scowled, grinding his teeth.

Damn it! What the hell was he supposed to do?!

That's when he caught a glimpse of Cole. He held up his metal bat, waving it to send him an unspoken message.

And Takashi understood it 100%.

"Drop the fucking bat! Then pump the gas into the bike!"

He scowled, "It doesn't have any gas."

"I heard you in the store. Take out the money and pump the fucking gas!"

Takshi scowled deeper, then mentally sighed.

This had better work...

He made a show of pretending to start hesitating, only now throwing the bat away. Then he walked to the back of the truck, pulling it out slowly to avoid damaging it as he pulled it off the vehicle.

He pushed it next to a gas pump where he could see him, then put in money, starting to pump the gas.

"Hey," he tried to make conversation to distract him, "You'll let us go now, right? We need to serve if our families are okay."

"Your family's just going to end up like mine you fucking retard."

Takashi bit his tongue to avoid talking back to him.

"It's done. Now will you let us go?" He looked at him.

"Start walking!" Takashi took a few steps after a moment, but then thought about Cole and what he was planning to do.

Cole needed him to be distracted...

"...C'mon man-"

"Not another fucking step closer!" He slashed through the air threateningly.

Takashi suddenly felt the weight the gun had seem to grow, as if it was asking for his attention.

He held himself, not hesitating in wondering what the hell Cole was waiting for.

"Dude, please just-"

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY OR I'LL KILL YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

Cole (finally!) took that moment to strike, running to the guy's side and planting his foot harshly in the ground, swinging the bat.

Takashi watched as it whipped through the air, right for the guy's head-

The sound of the bat hitting something sent sound waves through the air.

Yet no one was expecting what it hit.

A tall, lanky man in a pure white trench coat stood there, a metal hand holding the bat, holding it barely half an inch away from his face.

Cole stood there, holding the bat, not believing what had happened.

This guy had just literally appeared out of thin air!

He smiled at his incredulous look, "You shouldn't be involved in these things Cole." He lifted his free hand to Cole's stomach, then, without warning, Cole was blasted off his feet, sent flying through the air.

Cole landed on his back, and he was sure he'd broken something, but he got back up nonetheless.

He stumbled back on his feet, ready to run back and return the favor to that guy, only to see him disappear in a flash of light for a second.

Next second, Cole was staring the man in his face, and he could see that he was very aged.

His eyes were a bright silver, and he again smirked, before putting both of his hands in either side of his head.

Nexct second, Cole was being given thousands of electric bolts to his head, all in one continuous stream, making Cole scream loudly in pain, his voice piercing the night more than Rei's ever could.

Flashes of visions were going through his mind, all too many at once to process.

He was fighting...

He was running...

He had to help...

Help-

Cole lost consciousness, all the visions too much.

The man pressed his hand firmly on Cole's stomach, before blasting him through the air, and right into a brick wall that broke when he collided with it.

He slumped on his back, either unmoving because he was unconscious or because he might've actually been...

"Cole!" Takashi and Rei called out simultaneously.

The man in white turned to them, his silver eyes glowing in the night.

Then he walked to Cole and picking him up.

Next second, he disappeared again.

"What the fuck is going on?!" The guy holding Rei screamed.

Takashi knew it was now or never at this point.

He charged the guy in his moment of distraction, pulling out the gun and aiming.

The guy was taken aback by this.

He obviously didn't know Takashi had a gun on him.

"I've never shot a gun before, but I can make an exception."

"Y-You're bluffing!" The guy stuttered, "The gas could explode and kill all of us!"

"It's a hell of a lot better than losing my girl." He spoke instantly, pulling the trigger.

The bullet launched itself out of it's home, ramming right into the guy's chest.

He screamed with pain, "Damn it! You shot me! You fucking shot me!"

Rei pushed him off, and he fell to the ground, "You be glad I don't shoot you. You asshole!" She clenched her fists tightly.

"Rei, we have to go." Takashi got on the bike, turning it on.

"But what about Cole?" Her eyes were wide with worry.

"...I can't say. We couldn't do anything to save him Rei."

"But-"

"We'll discuss it later." He cut her off, "After all... "they're" showing up."

Rei looked, and surely enough, zombies were coming up behind them.

She nodded silently, getting the fallen weapons from the ground and getting on behind him.

"Wait..." She looked behind her to see the guy holding his wound, "Please... don't leave me here..."

She simply looked on coldly.

Takashi sped off, several zombies turning to them as they went.

Soon they were speeding off, leaving the manic man behind.

* * *

He gazed down at Cole, his body limp.

He had already checked for a pulse, and he obviously was breathing.

Though he'd gone a bit overboard, he smiled to himself. Then he turned to the gas station.

The man looked so pitiful as he shed tears, his hopes of surviving dashed as the zombies came upon him.

One slowly reached down, then grabbed him with inhuman strength, biting down on him, and soon, many others began eating him, as though he was a bonquet feast and the guests were all hungry wolves.

He watched indifferently as they ate, only caring for what happened afterwards.

Once they finished with him, they dispersed, only leaving a corpse that had blood all over it.

He still watched, waiting for several minutes, seeing the man do absolutely nothing.

He waited for several hours, and the sun was only beginning to peak from the horizon when something happened.

The man began getting up, eyes widening, then narrowing.

Slowly, he got up, looking at his bloody hands.

The man in white raised an eyebrow at this, but still watched.

The male looked around then stupidly screamed when he saw that there were zombies around him.

But a strange thing happened: None of them paid him any mind.

His silver eyes studied the man, and as he moved, he realized that he was a zombie.

But he wasn't _their_ type of zombie.

Slowly, he smiled, "So this the ultimate effect of a the plague..." He lifted his claw to his face again, "Send in a jet with only one pilot. Send it to my location and tell the pilot to open his door when landing. I will carry out the rest."

Within minutes, a jet landed on the ground, crushing several zombies.

The pilot opened the door, and he waded through the multiple zombies, simply running away.

He watched, seeing the male look at the jet for a long time.

Then he made a run for it, getting on and closing the door before any of the dead could enter.

Soon the jet lifted up in the air, and it flew through the air, leaving the pilot behind.

He smiled again.

Now Phase 2 was going exactly to plan...

* * *

Takashi drove in silence with Rei, who lay with her head lying against his back.

The duo crossed a bridge, mourning in silence for their lost friend.

They knew Cole was gone.

He had been kidnapped by that man, and there was no way of knowing if they'd ever see him again.

But they both knew that if they ever saw the man in white again, they'd try to make him tell them what had happened to Cole.

Rei looked over to her right as they crossed a bridge, the sun high in the sky.

She could see a jet flying, speeding through the air.

Enthusiastically, Rei waved at the jet, just as it flew past them.

If only she knew that the person flying it was the same person Takashi had killed...

* * *

**A/N: What was the hardest part of writing this chapter, some might ask?**

**It might b****e because this felt as though I was writing about how Rei was about to get raped, and the thing that made this difficult was mainly because, whenever I write, I literally do my best to put myself in a character's shoes.**

**Because of this, I almost felt as though I was actually there, groping Rei, acting like an insane maniac that was high on sex hormones...**

**Oh God, is this is what my friend meant by that backfiring against me someday...**

**Oh well.**

**Read & Review Please.**

**Posted this just before school started back up.**


	6. Teams against the DEAD

He looked at the state the bridges were in, seeing the numerous people running from the dead.

Many pushed others behind them in an attempt at forcing their way through the riot cops.

They were doing surprisingly well for what most might expect of them.

Not a single man bit yet.

Yet.

"Kessler." a voice crackled through his communicator, an accent behind the voice.

The man, identified as Kessler, lifted his claw to his mouth, "Dr. Wolfe, have you had any success in developing "it"?"

There was a brief silence on the other side, and Kessler had no doubt that Wolfe was somewhat taken aback by Kessler's abrupt question.

"Yes, I have had rather steady progress in developing "it"." Wolfe said.

"Are the dead pushing through on your side?"

"Yes."

"How long do you estimate until they break through?"

"Within the next half hour. I simply wanted to notify you that my team was relocating."

"Understood."

Kessler let his wrist fall, watching the chaos beneath him.

He stood on the top of a building, watching it all happen from afar.

He looked to his side, seeing the male still knocked out cold.

He narrowed his eyes, knowing full well that if Cole were awake, this would be the perfect opportunity for him to carry out the idea forming within his mind.

But sadly, Cole would be of as much help to the crowd in the distance as a smoker was when it came to fixing the problem with Global Warming.

A hindrance rather than a help.

Without much care, Kessler brought Cole up over his shoulder, teleporting away.

This bridge didn't exactly require his help anyways.

However, he turned for a moment as he saw a bunch of teens try to cross.

One kid, who seemed to be the leader, didn't comply with an officer's orders to not try to cross the bridge.

Instead, he did a less than half ass job at pretending to be a bad ass.

And Kessler could even count down to see what happened next.

3... 2... 1.

They opened a water hose with extremely high water pressure, and it very literally blew them away, off into sea.

Kessler watched, then sighed.

Why were adolescents so stupid sometimes...

Maybe it was the parents and teachers.

Without another thought, Kessler teleported away.

* * *

He was asleep, head pressed against the glass.

He wore a pair of thick square rimmed glasses, his entire body very evidently portly. His black locks fell to his neck, and he

The daylight that shined in his face didn't stir him at all.

But the sudden shaking the girl to his side works him up very well.

"Hirano, wake up!"

He stirred quickly, sitting up, "Oh... Hey Takagi. Is it already morning?"

"Yeah it's morning..." She scowled, "God, you're drooling."

Hirano realized that quickly, "Sorry..." He wiped his mouth off, looking out the window.

Outside he could see multiple people walking towards the middle of the bridge.

"Wouldn't it be better to evacuate to the suburbs?" He asked himself aloud.

"Take a bigger look. Cars aren't the only way out of here."

He did look; a plane was flying through the air from an airport.

"Oh! The airport you're right!"

"I think they're trying to go to some isolated area, maybe an uninhabited island or some place with strong military presence..."

"You mean like Okinawa? But the US military stationed there won't..." He trailed off, realizing quickly something else, "Oh right, but the self defense forces..."

"Yeah. If that's the case, then there should be places such as Kyushu and Hokkaido that people could go to as well."

"You saying we should go there too?"

"It's already too late for that. I bet those place are already starting to take on a strict policy when it comes to letting people come. What would you do if YOU were in that position?"

Hirano thought about it, "I'd seclude myself from the world..."

She looked at him, "Imagine if the entire world was thinking that way. What would happen if they all tried to keep their communities as small as possible?"

He stared at her in utter surprise, "You really have some very relevant questions Takagi..."

She cocked her head, "What are you talking about?" She pointed her thumb back, "Look at him, anyone can tell that just by looking at him. Though he might not realize it himself."

The "he" Takagi was referring to was Shido.

Hirano looked back, seeing that he was still talking to the students who so loyally followed him.

He wasn't sure whether he had stopped, slept, or... Well... ANYTHING other than speak to them since they had "elected" him leader.

"You know..." Takagi looked at him again, voicing his thoughts, "All of this happened overnight..."

Hirano picked his makeshift gun up, gaining a somewhat dangerous look in his eyes.

The eyes of a killer.

"...should I interrupt them?" He said, actually serious about going to methods that some might consider too far.

Takagi must've known this, "Forget the perverted teacher and his lackeys." She bowed her head slightly in thought, "I need to speak with someone I can trust..."

She never seemed to notice the look that somewhat resembled hurt on Hirano's face.

He could be trusted!

"Geez," Takagi bit her thumb nail, "I wish Takashi were here... why did he have to go with Rei and Cole..."

Hirano sighed, "Yeah," he looked out the window, "You like Kumoro I know."

Her face seem to light up, and she whipped her head to him, "W-What are you talking about?!"

He looked to her, only to start looking behind her.

She followed his gaze, seeing the black haired girl and nurse Marikawa.

"Ms. Busujima, Ms. Marikawa..." She didn't need to finish the unsaid question of, 'How long were you standing there?'

They seemed to ignore this look, and Busujima looked out the window.

"I'm getting worried about them." She said so only they could hear.

They didn't need her to say who she was talking about.

Rei, Cole, and Takashi.

And speaking of the two of them...

* * *

Explosions blew through the entire street, fires coming up in columns inside some buildings and cars.

Multiple men held guns, blowing away zombies.

Rei saw this, and her eyes went wide.

"What the hell is going on? It's like a war."

"Then we're front row center for it." Takashi replied. He glanced back at her, "Hang on tight." He revved the bike up, the wheels squealing before thrusting them forward.

The people holding the firearms then proceeded to start shooting at them when they were noticed.

They missed the first shot, instead hitting a zombie that they were passing by.

The second hit the weapons, and Rei was forced to drop the only bat they had, only catching her makeshift staff in time.

She cursed them, but didn't complain about where it hit, because from the force of the bullet hitting the bat, she could tell the bullet came dangerously close to hitting her hand.

Rei looked back at the people, "Why are they shooting at us? We aren't even dead!"

"The whole world's gone crazy Rei!" Takashi sped up, doing his best to escape the danger zone, "We can't trust anyone at all!"

She still looked behind her, "...anyone...?" She whispered.

"There's the bridge!" He yelled half a minute later.

Rei looked in front of them, and she did see the bridge before them.

Then Takashi made a turn away from the bridge.

"Huh? What are you doing, the bridge is right there!"

He stopped the bike slowly, "Did you see it?"

The girl turned, eyes turning wide.

Riot cops were having difficulty holding zombies back, and even then, the rest of the bridge was locked.

There was no way through.

"We'll try another bridge and hope it's different there. Hang on." He sped away with that.

He needed to get there quickly.

The next bridge was a long ways away.

* * *

"Pride of unity! It is that pride that will allow us to survive! We must act as a group, a guild, a family! That is what we now are! And trust me on this dear siblings, Kumoro and Miamoto were unfit to be in our family!" Shido spoke, as though he was a diplomat, to his followers.

"This guy's a Damn maniac." Takagi said quietly.

"Yes. He's like some recruiter for a cult." Busujima agreed.

"He IS a recruiter for a cult. And just look at the brainless morons that are hanging onto every word that he says."

They actually did seem to be exactly like how Takagi described them, though she did often describe things as "stupid" or people as "morons".

They however seemed to be so engrossed in Shido that they actually looked like they were at a concert for the best musical artist the world would ever see for all time, and had actually gotten front row seats for it.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can put up with this guy's crap..."

Busujima checked outside, seeing the setting sun, "We need to find a way across the bridge. We still need to meet up with Kumoro."

"You seem quite concerned for Kumoro," Takagi adjusted her glasses with a sly smile on her face, "Shouldn't you be concerned your OWN family?"

"I am. But my only family is my father and he's at a dojo abroad. So the only people I need to worry about are Kumoro and myself." She smiled, "Don't really care about anyone else. And besides, out of all of us, aren't I the one who has the best chance of making it out of this? Also, in the possibility that you're implying something, are you not also someone who's taken a liking to Kumoro?" She returned the smile Takagi gave her.

Takagi let her smile falter gradually as Busujima replied to her question.

"So... where does everyone live?" Marikawa asked the three.

"Same area as Kumoro's. On the other side of the bridge." Takashi answered, shifting herself slightly out of boredom.

"My parents aren't in the neighborhood right now." Hirano spoke up, getting on his feet as well, "But..." He looked away slightly, a slight flush on her cheeks, "I'll go anywhere if it was with Takagi..."

The girl felt her face go red at that, more from disgust at the thought rather than actual embarrassment.

"So Hirano, where are your family members?" They looked to him as Busujima asked him the question.

"My father is abroad to get stones because he's a jewelry merchant. My Mom is a fashion designer so she's gone to Europe to-"

"Oh shut it! Do you expect anyone to believe that!"

Marikawa laughed, "You're father would be a captain of a big cruise ship if this were a manga."

"My grandfather actually was. And my grandmother was a concert violinist." He laughed, not nervously, but more sheepishly, scratching his head.

Takagi dropped her gaze to the ground, disbelief clouded by utter disappointment.

Why the hell couldn't he have been hotter than what he was now?

"Is it alright if I come along with you?" She stood up, her blonde hair moving as she smiled cheerfully at them.

They looked at her instantly, all taken aback.

"Are you sure?"

"My parents passed away years ago, and all my relatives are far away from here." Her smile dropped, "And though I shouldn't be saying this... I kind of think Mr. Shido is an asshole..."

Looks of sympathy went through all three of their gazes.

"So what should we do first?" Busujima asked.

"We need to get across the bridge first..."

"Um... is there a problem?" Shido's voice finally returned to its normal stature, as he turned to them, "We need to be unified if we are to-"

"No thanks Mr. Shido, I'll pass." Takagi cut him off, "This isn't a field trip, and I have no obligation to stay here."

"...Alright." Shido pressed all of his fingertips together, a confident smile on his face, "If that is your choice, I cannot stop you Takagi. This is a democracy and not a dictatorship after all. But I am afraid you will have to stay Ms. Marikawa."

The woman in question felt her eyes widen.

"It would be a great inconvenience if we lost our nurse now. These students are depending on you after all. So please, stay with us." He began walking to her.

She didn't really like the way he looked at her.

Not at all...

A sound filled everyone's ears, and a pin brazed past Shido's head.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"You..." He felt his cheek, where it had cut, and looked at Hirano with disbelieving eyes, "You shot at me!"

"I missed you on purpose, asshole." Hirano's voice was so calm it was scary.

"But... you're not a violent student like-"

"How many of my fellow students do you think I killed so far?" Hirano cut him off, "And I can very easily kill you too, for all the ways you made fun of me!"

Hirano could remember it all.

How all the students, even the teachers, made fun of him, took advantage of him.

And he knew how he held back.

He only held back because he wanted a normal life.

But now...

"I don't have the need to do that anymore. Because the world we live in is gone. That's why I can kill now. I can even kill living people..." His dangerous look came back again, "Maybe I should start with the people who made fun of me."

(A/N: I actually thought of Takagi the first time I heard him say that; she dissed him so much it was ridiculous.)

"Make fun of you? You deeply misunderstand, I've never made fun of you!" Shido looked very nervous at that moment, holding his hands up defensively, obvious to shield himself if Hirano decided to shoot.

So much for the leader who took everything with poise.

He turned to the girls, "If you want to go, now's the time. I'll keep him from getting to any of you."

Busujima smiled.

She got up, turning to the door while looking at Hirano, "You're such a man. I'm impressed."

They ran out, with Hirano slamming the door behind him.

He and the others ran as quickly as possible, and Hirano looked behind him to make sure Shido wasn't following.

He wasn't, but he noticed something else.

The route that they would be going on if they ran in the opposite direction had a number label on it.

And though it was likely a coincidence, the route was numbered "666".

Hirano would've stared in slight surprise if he wasn't running.

The fact that Shido sometimes resembled a snake and the fact that they were quite literally under a sign with the same number of the Anti-Christ was both ominous and weird at the same time.

Regardless, he ran away all the same.

Anything to get away from the Anti-Christ.

**(A/N: They actually have a sign that says '666' on it when the bus was under it. If you look closely after the commercial break is supposed to end on episode 5, you should see it.)**

* * *

"Looks like it's the same here." Rei said, and Takashi scowled, "Should we try another one?"

"No. It's probably the same for every bridge. Otherwise what's the point?"

He looked at his phone to see the time, and he scowled deeper, "Damn it. We need to cross the bridge and meet up with everybody."

Even the optimist, Rei said, "How? That's a little easier said than done!"

"Just let me think..."

Rei mentally sighed, "I wish there was-"

"Well there isn't!" Takashi snapped, "So there's no point in bringing it up..."

A loud sound reverberated to their ears, and Rei identified it quickly, "Gun shot!"

"...No... that isn't a gun shot it's..."

Takashi realized the solution to their current problem in that moment.

He revved the bike up, speeding down the road, making a sharp turn onto the underground exit to the bridge.

"Takashi, what are you-"

"HANG ON!" Takashi drove right for a truck, which he used as a makeshift ramp to push him into the air.

"Wait, what?! Are you insane?!" The girls screamed.

He did in fact go flying through the air, and they flew over a group of people that were fighting zombies.

And it was their group.

Rei saw the opportunity, and actually jumped off of the bike, makeshift staff in hand.

She fell through the air, the wind rustling past her, and she stabbed a zombie in the forehead, hitting home.

She pulled it out fiercely, side stepping, twirling her body around, then swinging the staff at the surrounding zombies.

They all broke under the inertia behind the already crushing blow.

Takashi saw Hirano throw away his makeshift gun, and he called out to him.

Hirano gave him a fearful look, but when Takashi threw the gun he had in in his side, it was almost unbelievable how fast his expression went from fearful to sadistic, as though he was once the prey of a lion that cornered him, but then both animals switched bodies.

He brought the gun down, and as he pulled the trigger twice in quick succession, Takashi barely got out of the way in time for the bullets to flawlessly hit the targets.

Takashi sped up past Takagi and Shizuka, he pulled lightly on the brakes, swiftly turning around and hitting several of the zombies over in the sea.

Whether they could swim or not, Takshi hoped it was the latter.

He revved his bike up again, and he yelled at Busujima, "Grab my hand!"

He stretched it out, and she took it.

They spun in a circle, and the force made her go spinning like a lethal ballerina in mid air.

She descended on the dead, slashing through them with the killing intent of a demon but with the ease of the grim Reaper when he reaped souls.

She got up, and everyone surveyed the fight results.

"Seems like we took them out for now." Busujima commented.

"They were sure hard to beat..." Shizuka added.

Takagi scoffed, "Yeah. For everyone but you maybe."

Rei was actually running at the nurse, jumping into her arms, "Ms. Marikawa!"

"Oh, Ms. Miamoto! What a coincidence! I'm so glad you're alright!" Shizuka smiled widely, happily hugging her to her chest, "And you too Kumoro!"

Miamoto and Kumoro were alright!

Busujima walked up to Takashi, "Does this mean Tokunotsu bridge is locked down as well?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "No way out of here."

She nodded her understanding, "To be honest, I'm really glad you're safe Kumoro."

"Same here." Takashi gave her a smile, very oblivious to the look of jealousy crossing Rei's face.

"What about me Takashi?" Takagi went up to him, hugging herself against him, sporting a look of her own jealousy.

"I'm glad you're safe too. All of you." He noticed her look though.

"That's nice, but..." Busujima let her smile drop, "Where is Cole?" She looked around, as though expecting him to come out.

Slowly everyone else noticed Cole's absence.

"Yeah... where is Cole?" Hirano asked as well, his murderous look shifting back to normal.

Rei and Takashi both gave looks that said everything...

"Oh no..." Shizuka's eyes widened in horror, "He got bit..."

...well... maybe not EVERYTHING...

"Cole got kidnapped... long story short he tried to help Rei, but this guy with powers came and knocked him out. Before we could do anything, the guy just disappeared with Cole... literally disappeared..."

"That seems to be... too unbelievable." Busujima said honestly, staring with everyone else at the duo.

Takashi gave her a look, "So is the fact that he himself had powers, or that we're all in a constant struggle to survive against walking corpses."

She looked down, considering that, "Yes... that doesn't exactly help my point much... Ok. What does everyone say we do now?" She looked at everyone.

"While I still feel bad for Cole, I think we should just quit on everything for now." Shizuka gained the stares this time.

"You mean... call it a day?" Hirano voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Yes. My friend's apartment is just a short walk away from here."

Takagi didn't seem to be able to resist asking in teasing voice, "Your boyfriend's place?"

Her eyes went wide, "N-No! It isn't like that! It's my girl friend's apartment! She usually is busy at work so she lets me clean the house while she's away!"

Hirano gained a pensive expression, "Is it a high rise? Does it have a good view of the surroundings?"

She didn't seem to catch onto why he asked this, "Oh yes! And there's a convenience store just a block away too!"

"I guess we'll be going there for tonight." Takashi said flatly.

Soon, they were all walking to the house, surprisingly not running into "them" for the rest of the way.

While they felt weird, none of them complained at all.

They were bone tired.

Even a five minute time of rest would be incredibly refreshing.

* * *

As night fell, he stood up straight, his trench coat billowing in the wind.

The moon hung heavily above his head, and Kessler watched the steadily forming crowd at one side of the bridge.

A groan at his side brought his attention to its source.

"It's about time you woke up."

The man next to him groaned, standing up slowly and clutching his head, "Damn it... What the hell happened..."

"You should remember soon."

Cole groaned again, not recognizing him.

That was to be expected.

Kessler HAD given him a number.

But he'd probably be grateful.

He stood up straight, and Cole finally recognized him after a moment, "You!" He brought his hand back, white electricity with a black rim coursing through his arm.

Kessler saw this, and smiled.

Oh yes, Cole would be grateful.

"Yes, it is me. I see you've finally woken up Cole." He cocked his head back slightly.

"Who the hell are you? How the hell do you know me?" Cole ignored the new feeling in his arm, focusing on the man before him.

"I am Kessler." He looked at Cole, no emotion showing towards the electrified hand.

"If you wish to put those powers of yours to an actual use, then look over there." Cole's gaze followed his pointed finger, and he could see many of the dead coming for police men.

They tried taking most of them out, but the policemen were not having the best of luck.

"You could well be the very thing that could save these people. Imagine how many lives you've already taken Cole. Here is your chance at redemption."

"What? What do you mean, 'How many lives you've already taken'? Last I checked, the only people I've killed so far are those Damn zombies!" Cole yelled fiercely.

"...so you haven't realized it yet..." Kessler looked at him, smile dropping, "You're less sharp than I thought you'd be."

"What?"

"I thought you would realize by now..." Kessler sighed, "So I guess I'll tell you what I mean by that."

Cole narrowed his eyes, but was obviously listening.

Kessler looked him in the eyes, "You are the one who caused all of this to begin."

* * *

A/N: I'm not sure how well I did this chapter... I kind of left my comfort zone for this one...

Any feedback?


	7. Warning in the world of the DEAD

"What?" Cole gave a look of utter disbelief.

"You were the one who caused this all to happen." Kessler waved to the world around them.

"How?" Cole yelled, spreading his hands out, he too gesturing the world around him.

"Because of the bomb that you were carrying." Kessler explained, "When you set it off, it triggered an explosion that cut through several square blocks, and almost everyone inside the blast radius became "them". The others were simply like you: Humans who had the ability to gain supernatural abilities, called conduits. However, every one but you actually became one of "them" for they didn't know to use their powers in time."

"You're saying..." Cole remembered the device in his hands, the way he could feel it pulsating... "That bomb was the reason this shit happened?!"

"Yes."

"...No way." Cole shook his head after a moment, voice becoming skeptic.

"What?"

"There's no way that that one explosion could actually cause that to happen. I heard the news from a radio about how even the states were overrun by those Damn things. Unless they have super swimming abilities, which we both know they don't, then there's no way in hell that these walking corpses could've carried over to there that quickly." Cole remembered listening to the radio inside the truck, hearing of the multiple countries and nations that had suffered from the pandemic that plagued the world at the moment.

There really were no signs that "they" had the ability to run, let alone swim, without a noise to carry them.

So even if they COULD swim to the states, it'd be physically impossible for even the best person to ever go to the swimming Olympics to actually swim through the freaking Pacific to the US.

They probably wouldn't be able to actually get there without being torn to pieces, what with the currents, fish (mainly sharks), possible weather, etc.

But Kessler simply pulled a phone from his pocket.

After typing in several things, he lifted it in front of Cole so he could see the screen, and turned up the volume loudly.

"Many are saying that the killing pandemic was the after effect of simultaneous explosions that occurred around the world, in the most populated cities of each country."

Cole didn't need much time to realize that the video was a news report, and as he watched it, he saw several craters, several people standing around them.

"While scientists are saying it is impossible for this to be the case, many have still chosen to believe this theory. As the killing pandemic continues to spread worldwide, some have accepted it, simply seeing it as a biblical end to the world. Several thousand have been found to run to loot stores, while others seek out churches in order to repent for their sins. My family may be in a similar situation. So..." The female reporter's voice cracked slightly, "I'll be taking time off to try to reach them... CNN signing off."

The screen went to static, then went black.

Cole looked up at his silver eyes, and Kessler nodded, answering his unsaid question, "The bomb itself had a wireless connection to several satellites, and each satellite was connected to several other bombs, all stationed at different places around the world, all of which including the top ten cities with high populations for each country. That bomb was the one that you set off."

Cole let his eyes become wide, his mind letting the realization sink in, "...I did this..." He said to himself.

Then he realized...

"How do you know all of this?" He looked up at him again.

"It's a very simple answer: I was involved with the creation of the bomb, which was labeled as "The Ray Sphere"."

Cole continued to look at him, surprise succumbing to anger.

Before he could yell however, Kessler continued, but his next words not helping Cole's anger in the slightest, "And I am the one who placed the Ray Sphere in the confines of your bag."

When the words sunk in, Cole narrowed his eyes, electricity curling in his fists.

Kessler only smirked at his expression, "You can try to strike against me if you'd like, but just know I have more experience in my own powers," Silver electricity formed in his palm for emphasis, "You can try to fight me, but at the moment, you'd be lucky to actually give me the slightest amount of pain. If you want to actually put that power to use, then use it against them." Kessler pointed to his right, and Cole followed the pointer finger, just as a gunshot filled his ears.

Hearing it, he looked quickly, and he saw an entire horde's worth of zombies walking towards a wall of cops.

They tried shooting, but only a few good shots got in.

"You can do whatever you'd like. I'll guide you slightly if you decide to help. But if you don't, then you're on your own."

Cole looked down at the crowd, contemplating it in his mind...

**(A/N: During Cole's Karma moments, I'll put it all in bold letters.)**

**While it's true I want to beat the shit out of this guy, he DID knock me out in one fell swoop... But then, I didn't have any time to react then. You can't really call it a fair fight.**

**Yet at the same time, he's right. While they might be able to hold those things back, they'll definitely get overwhelmed when they run out of bullets...**

**But what point in helping them is there...?**

**I'm not even sure if I can actually be of any real help if I try to fight them...**

Cole scowled after a moment, then sighed.

Forget whether he could actually help them or not. He knew in the back of his mind those very policemen could actually be trying to help Zeke, in the possibility that he'd be here.

Cole closed his eyes then.

So many damn "ifs"...

He looked at Kessler again.

"Fine. Tell me what to do."

Kessler only grabbed him, and for one second, Cole was on solid ground.

The next second, he felt weightless, as though the metal holding him up had disappeared.

"Concentrate your electricity as you fall, imagining it covering your entire body. When you hit the ground, the impact shouldn't hurt you at all. Won't be able to say the same for the things surrounding the place you'll be landing though." Before Cole realized how high in the air he was, Kessler let go of him, and he began to fall, the world below him looking much smaller than before.

That's when Cole realized Kessler had teleported him God knows how high in the air.

He paled at this, then remembered his words...

"I'll kill that bastard in the afterlife if I die here..." The electricity started out at his hands, then began spreading as he imagined himself covered in it.

The wind howled in his ears and whipped his face as he fell, and within a moment, just when he began to plummet rather than fall, he crashed onto the bridge, and he lost his balance, the only thing in his ears being something similar to a low roar.

As he regained his bearings, he looked around himself, then felt his jaw drop.

The crash Cole felt had brought on...

"Holy shit..." Cole said to himself, looking around.

The pavement had caved in slightly, forming a miniature crater, but the rims of the bridge that kept cars from falling into the river were gone.

It had been like there had been a giant sweep on the ground, everything that had been left behind being seriously burned with the radius of the blast.

Everything else...

Cole focused again, and concentrated his electricity as the zombies that weren't destroyed starting coming toward him.

A gunshot behind him made him look back, and he saw some of the policemen starting to shoot at the zombies, careful not to shoot at him, some waving him towards them.

They probably didn't understand what had happened, but they were all trying to take it in while continuing their duties.

Cole refused however, turning back to the dead.

He had put himself and everyone else in this shit hole of a new world.

The least he could do was help shoulder the burden rather than run away.

At that thought, Cole couldn't help noticing how the electricity became slightly grayer than before.

He furrowed his brow.

That was... strange...

But, Cole reasoned, so was the fact that there were man eating corpses walking around or the fact that he went from a regular trouble making college student to a Damn lightning rod in under 48 hours.

With that thought, Cole formed a small circle on his palm, thrusting it-

A very poorly aimed bullet richoted off the side of the bridge supports, and as Cole was about to thrust his shock wave, the electricity formed a magnetic pull as the bullet came close to him.

It shot towards him, but only scraped into his shoulder, though still making Cole hiss in pain as the flesh was ripped off part of him.

He spun around, cursing loudly, then clenched one eye shut, pushing the hand where he concentrated his energy out to the zombies.

Did Cole expect something to happen? Hell yes, he did.

Did he expect a freaking tornado to form? Hell. To the. Freaking. No.

The circle seemed to spin as it flew through the air, and in one moment, it expanded, and next second, viola.

A tornado formed and sucked everything in.

No men were pulled into its massive currents (though Cole felt his feet dragging slightly forward as he planted himself), but several zombies were.

They were spun around the thin funnel, the electricity burning them up.

Then it dissipated, and they were all thrown away, falling into the river or coming back on the bridge with many dislocated body parts.

Cole stared at the path of destruction he had caused, the lack of gunfire telling him all of the police were doing the same.

He looked down at his hands again, "Holy Shit..." He said again.

Then he clenched them into fists.

"This should make everything all the more easier."

With that, he summoned his electricity again, then lunged at the zombies.

* * *

Kessler watched Cole fall, then calculated how much time he had.

Knowing that he didn't havehave nearly enough time to carry out his plans, he sighed.

He always hated doing this...

He used his static thrusters, and his hands ejected white electricity like drizzle sprinklers, floating backwards slightly, the power dramatically decreasing the strength of gravity on the aged man.

When he felt he had gone far enough, he concentrated, and when he opened his eyes, he saw himself and Cole conversing just as he began to wake up.

Knowing he would have more than enough time, he slowly floated down, using his static thrusters to lighten the fall.

As he went, he landed on the ground, then walked briskly, watching the growing crowd from behind the barrier.

As he looked, he sighed.

So many with the plague...

"I think it's about time you spread the signal." He said in his metal claw, then let his hand hang loosely.

He waited, then began followed a policeman as he walked to the leader of the crowd.

Just when he was about to reach the man however, Kessler grabbed his elbow, "Let me handle this. I'll take care of the crowd for you."

"Why would I-"

Kessler narrowed his eyes, and they became very dangerous looking.

"Allow me to handle this. When the time comes, I'll let you take control."

The man suddenly seemed to recognize him, and he nodded in understanding, eyes somewhat narrowed as he walked away.

Kessler regarded the man, then looked to the crowd, already noticing the camera coming to him.

Realizing this, he pulled his white hood down lower on his face, concealing the larger part of his face, though he could still see.

Walking up to the ring leader of the crowd, Kessler simply listened quietly.

"Do you see now?! They're killing citizens at random! We cannot tolerate the tyranny of the police!"

"GO HOME!" The crowd responded loudly in unison.

Kessler scowled.

Damn idiots. They took any chance they got just to antagonize the government.

Kessler actually somewhat felt a jolt of satisfaction for once when he brought his hands on either side of the man's head, silver electricity connecting with the man's head, as though his hands were magnets used to conduct it.

He screamed, his voice loud, then letting his body drop to the ground, completely limp.

There was a stunned silence, and Kessler gave an emotionless look down at the man.

"Good to know he finally shut up for the moment." He said, as though the dead man was as meaningless as a cloud moving through the sky.

There were murmurs for a moment, then a the reality of the moment sunk in, they began to scream.

* * *

Several kilometers away, Takashi and Kouta were both looking at the screen with widened eyes, gazing at the screen in silence.

"What the fuck?" Takashi said after a moment.

Kouta gave no response, only watched.

"Now that I have your attention, my name is Kessler." The man had a deep voice, yet it sounded overly confident, as though he knew everything that would happen at any given moment, "I am here to inform the world of the real reason that this pandemic began to exist. It is a biological weapon, but it wasn't created by any nation or world power, for the device that caused this to spread was far beyond even the greatest of minds of most of the countries. In truth, this pandemic was caused by an organization known by few as the First Sons. The First Sons are a group trained to be the advancement of all the world's technology. Even Japan and China, who are currently the highest ranking in the world on the scientific scale, always pale in comparison to even some of our weakest minds. The First Sons constructed a device designed to bring powers to all who use it." As he lifted his head slightly, it was obvious that the cameraman was attempting to catch even a glimpse of the man's face, but never had that luxury, "But with the activation of this power, comes a price, and the price is what you see before your eyes. The dead, zombies, "them", whatever you prefer to call them, all came to because of the use of the Ray Sphere. And the one who is the blame for all of this," As though on cue, there was the sound of a low roar, and Kessler pointed to the source of it, "Is that man right there."

"...Hey isn't that..." Kouta looked at Takashi, as though wanting him to confirm something.

"Yeah... that's Cole." He said incredulously, "And that guy... he's the same guy who kidnapped him..."

"He used the Ray Sphere, and as a result of this action, a high scale explosion took place, and all within the blast radius became "them". The Ray Sphere was also connected to several different bombs, and the Ray Sphere explosion set off a chain reaction, leaving us all in the world that we are currently in." Kessler looked down, "And how I know this, one may ask? Simple." Kessler looked up, his hood still concealing his upper face, "I am the leader of the First Sons."

Takashi looked at the screen more intensely.

"While you may look down upon this man, Cole MacGrath, and see him as the bringer of collamity, you must also know that he could very well be your savior... if he so chooses that fate. And regardless of whether you put your faith in him or otherwise, remember that if you stand in his way, he will destroy you."

Takashi heard wind whistling in the air from the screen, and as the camera shifted, he only saw it vibrating, with something unintelligible moving.

He ran outside after grabbing binoculars, then looked, eyes widening as he saw it.

"Hirano... You'll probably want to see this..." The boy was by his side, and when he took the binoculars, Takashi still felt his mouth go agape, "Holy Shit... You can see it from all the way here..."

Hirano lowered the binoculars, and then he jumped so violently his glasses were sent askew.

There was a tornado ripping down the bridge.

"If you plan to use the Ray Sphere to obtain your powers, I warn you not to try. For the outcome will be very similar to this, only much worse."

Again, on almost perfect cue (Takashi was seriously wondering if this was all an act) there was a groan.

Takashi whipped around, looking at the screen again, and as he watched, he knew that the person who groaned was...

The man Kessler had killed.

"This man has been diagnosed with a plague, of which doesn't activate until one dies. Those who gain it will have a consciousness and their remaining senses, just like the living. But besides that, they will be as savage and feral as the dead. So from here on, the world we all knew is dead. Just yesterday was the mark of a new world, where survival of the fittest will be the only rule. The only ways for a person to escape this, is by either dying, or by relying on the help of MacGrath. Both are very acceptable, but if you wish opinion on how this will end up turning into..." A ghost of a smile appeared upon Kessler's face, "...then I hope humanity rests in peace the day the last one of us dies."

With that, he literally disappeared into thin air, leaving the camera to start to poise on Cole again.

No one watching this knew that the cameraman himself was a member of the First Sons.

And no one outside of Japan wouldn't realize until later that the entire broadcast had been given worldwide.

* * *

Cole breathed heavily, feet spread apart, hands lifted slightly, electricity sparking on his hands.

"...where the hell are these guys coming from..." He said breathlessly.

The zombies didn't seem to have an end.

He looked around.

Kessler was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed that the police had safely evacuated everyone.

He probably should follow them-

A flash of red light caught his eye, and Cole looked in time, just fast enough to make a combat roll to the side as he saw a wave of crimson energy being thrown at him.

"The hell was that...?"

There was a person who looked female with a red hood and red pants far away from him.

The woman herself was pale, her skin so bloodless Cole almost thought she was a zombie for a moment.

But then he could see the smile forming on her lips, and the way her eyes beamed with life, her body showing absolutely no bite wounds of any kind.

Yeah, this wasn't a zombie.

She made a movement, then lunged forward, disappearing in a flash of red light.

Before Cole could do anything, she appeared before him, then threw another massive energy wave, blowing Cole back.

He cursed as he fought to keep his bearings, trying to see the woman, only seeing her claret eyes.

"Who... who the hell are you...?"

She smiled at him in a seductive way, "You don't remember me? How horrible."

Cole gave a look of utter confusion.

He didn't knowknow her.

Her face gave him no feeling or inkling of a memory.

"I see you've forgotten about me Kessler..." She scowled, voice becoming very deadly, "You'll regret the day you forgot about Sasha!"

* * *

A/N: In this fic, there'll be karma moments.

Most of which are nowhere close to the same ones in the game.

I'd like to say that Cole's electricity in this story is mainly black, or at least a color with a black outline.

I chose to do this because of the fact that despite Cole fighting Zombies, he's doing it for survival rather than "for the greater good" (Blue) or just "for the sake of killing" (Red).

And one more thing: While the first few chapters may seem like it's just Cole in the H.O.T.D. world with him being a part of it all, just with a mash up version of inFAMOUS and H.O.T.D. mixing up: No. This isn't the case.

While it may seem like that at first, I actually plan to go further, for I've already planned for the actual inFAMOUS story to be completely different than it is.

And no, Wolfe wasn't making the RFI last chapter.

Please give feedback!


	8. Goodbye from the DEAD

The girl ran quickly, her hand covered with another person's, who was much older.

The girl looked up as they ran, "Daddy... I'm tired..." She said after a moment, her body long since past the usual amount of exercise it went through on even a monthly basis.

"We just have to go for a little longer sweety." Her father reasoned with a glance to her, then turning back to the empty streets, looking at all of the houses.

The girl blinked, but ran continuously, forcing herself not to stop.

She didn't understand what was happening...

After several more blocks, her father turned into a yard guarded by a fence, and in that moment, she asked again in her young, innocent voice, "Daddy, where's Mommy?"

He didn't react or respond for a moment, stopping for a long moment.

Then he gave her a smile, "We'll meet up woth Mommy soon." Then he began to knock on the door to the house.

* * *

Cole was for the first time in this new world of Death actually starting to feel a developing amount of nostalgia.

He had never ever taken school or college seriously.

But as he fought this battle, he began to think of life before the explosion almost longingly.

The woman, named Sasha as she had proclaimed several times, had been giving him Hell for the past hour, more than even the dead were giving him.

Then again...

Cole dodged another crimson wave, watching as it passed him and hit another herd of zombies.

Maybe it was because she and the zombies were two factors that combined that made her that much worse...

Cole lifted his hand, then swung it back down, the electricity curling in his palm and emitting a bright light.

He thrust it at the woman before him, and as it flew, it curled into a ball, hitting the girl and sending her flying.

As she was down, Cole whipped around, barely in time to throw a shock wave at the zombies and blowing them back.

Cole whipped back at Sasha, seeing her seemingly stumble back onto her feet, her red eyes alive with glee, her voice releasing a maniacal laugh.

"You're quite the tough bastard aren't you..." She laughed, then disappeared into mid air.

Cole cursed under his breath, whipping back around and stopping her sharp nails from piercing his chest.

"What the Hell did I do to you...?" Cole grunted with clenched teeth.

She smiled in response, then leaned much too close to his face, "So you don't know the truth?" She scowled at his expression, "No... How could you know..."

The amount of strength behind her arm was starting to overwhelm Cole, and he put his free hand on her stomach, blasting her away once again.

He breathed heavily, stepping back several times, sweat starting to come down his face.

Dear God what the Hell was her problem?

Cole was starting to wonder what to do when the sound of a loud engine came to his ears.

He dared a look back and couldn't react in time to stop the bulldozer from breaking it's line in the protective wall, running over multiple zombies.

Cole slowly realized what was happening, then widened his eyes.

He felt a hand grab his shoulder, and he was turned around to face a policeman, "You have to get out of here. Go. We can handle the rest."

Cole glared in response, "What the hell are you doing?" He yelled, "You guys were barely handling things before I stepped in! And why the hell did you let the guy to leave from the line? It'll only make everything a hell of a lot worse than it already is!"

"There are zombies on the other side of the bridge! No one's safe here!" He exclaimed.

As though to prove his point, Cole saw the corpses walking on the other side.

His eyes went wide again. "Damn it." He cursed, then felt a loud explosion drown everything out, putting a small gust of wind through him.

His back covered in orange, flickering light, Cole turned, seeing the destroyed bulldozer on its side, a man with blood trailing down the sides of his face letting his screams of terror fill the air as the dead grabbed at him from different angles, feasting hungrily on the man, who were surrounding the area where Cole had landed several minutes ago.

Cole closed his eyes at the sight, clapping his hands over his mouth to hold down his lunch from a couple of days ago.

The ground beneath him shook, and he looked up at the sight, not believing it when he saw that the explosion had broken the bridge down, destroying it and making one big hole in it.

"...No way..." Cole said.

The bridge was cut off, and the only way for anyone else to pass was simply gone...

Which meant that Takashi and the others...

Cole clenched his teeth.

They were stranded!

"We need to go!" The policeman began to run, and Cole saw his point, for the bridge was collapsing gradually, parts falling off more and more.

Then he saw two people laying on their sides close to each other.

One was Sasha, and the other a significantly older policeman, the badge showing that he was a captain.

He suddenly felt himself come to another thought...

**If I save that cop, then it'll probably help out in the long run. The more guys on the streets that are alive, the better the chance of people making it through this, or at least help them live for a while.**

**But Sasha... She can teleport, just like Kessler...**

**I can probably try to convince her to take Takashi and everyone else on the other side over here... or maybe, if I play my cards right, FORCE her to do it...**

**But there isn't much time...**

With those thoughts in mind, Cole made a decision that surprised even himself...

...He dove for both people.

He grabbed each one of them, dragging them across the ground.

He clenched his teeth, closing his eyes and yanking with all his might.

Why were people so freaking heavy?

He yelled at someone to help him.

But no one came.

He cursed.

Damn it all...!

He gave a loud yell as he forced himself to pull them farther, not considering the zombies.

Light footsteps came next to him, and Cole looked, seeing the man in the white trench coat.

Cole remembered how he said that he would help out earlier, and decided to call him out on it then.

"Kessler! Help me get these two to safety!" Knowing then of the amount of danger Sasha could bring, plus the apparent hatred for the man before him... "Get the woman!" Cole knew there was a chance of her waking up.

And because of that, he admitted that he'd be guilty of wanting her to... have a "little talk" with Kessler.

Kessler only responded by picking up the man and walking away.

"Why aren't you getting the woman?!" Cole yelled in disbelief.

Kessler stopped in his tracks, then turned to Cole and patted his shoulder, "There are things a person must do to avoid death Cole." He walked away with that.

Cole gained a somewhat disappointed look on his face, then returned to taking Sasha.

He picked her up, putting her on his back, pulling her arms around his neck.

He moved his arms underneath her knees, lifting her up, running as fast as his feet could carry him.

Her arms began slipping halfway however, and he had to move his hands to her butt in order to keep her from falling back on the ground.

Cole felt himself going red in shame as he realized his actions, then shook it off, running after Kessler.

The man set the captain on the ground next to a policeman, then walked to the other side of the bridge, watching the ever approaching dead, hands in his pockets.

Then he pulled one hand out, silver electricity forming.

He spread his arm out to the farthest length it could be, then swung it through the air, a tornado of much more power than Cole's sucking everything in that was in its path except for the living, who for even the ones who went through the tornado itself looked entirely unscathed.

Cole looked in surprise at this, but shook the thought from his head, deciding not to question it.

He ran towards the other side of the bridge, not stopping until he reached the regular streets, Kessler close by.

Cole stopped then, seeing no dead at all for a long time.

He turned to Kessler, "You said you have more experience than me, right?"

"Yes. I do."

"Would you mind me asking you something?"

"Ask away."

"Can someone who can teleport from one place to another able to bring more than one person to their destination?"

"Yes." Kessler walked away as he said this, as though already expecting everything he had said, "I'll see you soon Cole MacGrath." He disappeared without even trying to explain how he'd do that.

Cole didn't reject it though.

He got what he needed.

He just hoped Sasha would be willing to comply with him...

"Ah..." He suddenly became frozen stiff as he felt her shift, "...Your such a naughty boy Cole... grabbing my butt like this..." Her seductive voice wasn't tainted by bloodlust now, and he felt her rubbing herself against him.

"...You don't want to kill me?" Cole said in an incredulous voice.

"You saved my life. Why would I want to take yours in turn?" She sighed, "I will be your acquaintance for now. After all, you seem different from him... it seems you and Kessler are not in fact the same..."

Cole was about to question further when he felt her breathing slow, and as he looked at her, he realized she was asleep.

He sighed.

At least she wasn't crazy for his head anymore...

* * *

The girl heard her father banging on the door of the house.

"Open up! I know you're in there!" He asked.

No response came. Only the lights turned off.

"Come on! Please, I have a child with me!"

"Just go away!" The person behind the door screamed.

"Let me in!" Her father urged desperately. Then he turned rough, "I'll break the door down!" He lifted his heavy makeshift weapon in the air for unseen emphasis, "I swear to God I'll-"

"Ok! Ok! I'll let you in!"

Her father looked at the door in surprise.

As it opened, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you-"

A spear was thrust out from the door, and before he could stop it...

The man looked down at the blade piercing his chest, "I'm so sorry..." The person holding the spear said, yanking the spear out of his chest, "I'm so sorry..."

The door slowly closed as her father fell on his back.

The little girl stared at the sight, her father's blood spreading on the ground, the shock too much to register to her young mind.

This was to be expected.

She WAS just a little girl...

"Arisa..." Her father choked her name, smiling at her, eyes filled with a sadness she couldn't place.

He lifted his hand up, putting it against her cheek, pulling it away with it becoming wet as he took it away from her.

It was then that she realized that she had tears trickling down her eyes, coming out uncontrollably.

"Sweety..." He forced himself to say, "Go..." Arisa fell to her knees, not believing what she was seeing, "Find someplace safe to go... leave me here and run..." She felt her eyes widen as she felt the tears come out more and more.

She shook her head defiantly, grabbing his head and hugging him to her, "No!" She screamed.

"Please sweety... do it for your Dad..." She saw his eyes closing slowly.

"Daddy! No, please don't go!" She cried, "Come on!" She tried pulling him across the ground, as though doing that would pull him away from Death...

"Arisa..." He said softly.

"Daddy?" She looked down at the man, eyes glistening.

"Arisa," He lifted his hand up, trying to reach her, eyes steadily closing, "...Daddy loves you... Always remember that..."

His hand couldn't even rub her head for a last time before it fell back to the ground without his control.

His body lay there lifeless, without any movement at all.

Arisa felt her body trembling, hugging her father's head tightly, starting to weep loudly, "Daddy please don't go! I never want you to leave! I want you to stay forever!" She screamed, clutching his head even tighter, as though trying to clasp onto her father's already gone life.

Behind her, zombies moaned as they went closer to the little girl.

A little girl that didn't have anything... a person who had just lost the one protection that she felt in the world...

The door to the house burst open, and a portly man ran out, pulling a handgun out and aiming quickly.

Simultaneously, two gunshots filled the air, and the nearest zombie's head exploded.

One of the bullets was shot by Kouta Hirano, and he gave a laugh, "Yeah! That's what you get for going after a little girl!"

On the other end, the portly man shot another zombie, indifferent towards to other shooter.

Then he looked back at the family cowering inside of the house, gaping at him in surprise, "What in the HELL is WRONG with you people?!" Zeke Jebediah Dunbar roared.

* * *

A/N: What do you think of this chapter?

Extra: Afterlife of the DEAD

He was in the void of life and death. Nothing could be seen.

No light. No people.

Nothing.

The news reporter looked back upon everything he'd done, knowing he should've spent more time with his daughter...

Especially after he and Arisa's mother's divorce, he thought.

But, he reasoned, he just hoped Arisa was okay.

_'That's the duty of a father... isn't it...'_ The man closed his eyes as a bright light filled the void, his ex-wife's face coming to his mind, _'...Sasha?'_


End file.
